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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: kilogeek on Sun, 19 January 2014, 03:33:07

Title: What about painting plastic keyboard cases ?
Post by: kilogeek on Sun, 19 January 2014, 03:33:07
I searched on this forum (and on the web) but did not found what I'm looking for :

When you get a vintage keyboard you have 2 options, if you are a collector I guess you only want to clean or retrobright it, but if you're not you may want to paint it. The thing is I found very few information (web) on best methods to get durable painted plastic that won't go away with time. I'm thinking of tinted epoxy/polyester resins as I used these for crafting custom windsurf boards and I know it's strong... you can also add a layer of epoxy-kevlar on your keyboard^^  But I want a keyboard, not a mace.

What I'm looking for is a not too complicated way to get what I want : change case color for ever.

If any of you have advices, methods, links, products, thanks to reply.
Title: Re: What about painting plastic keyboard cases ?
Post by: modbot on Sun, 19 January 2014, 03:37:24
I think if you want to get a good guide with people that are well versed with this you should check the "making stuff together" thread. There are a lot of useful resources and people that have approached painting keyboards in different ways with quite a high success rate.
Title: Re: What about painting plastic keyboard cases ?
Post by: modbot on Sun, 19 January 2014, 03:39:36
we just posted a photo ourselves of a filco we did, colour change from black to white, we use premium grade car paint and clear coat so you can use this as a reference for how you want your keyboard to turn out.
Title: Re: What about painting plastic keyboard cases ?
Post by: kilogeek on Sun, 19 January 2014, 03:44:33
thanks a lot, I'll read these threads, that was not obvious in what the search engine found^^
Title: Re: What about painting plastic keyboard cases ?
Post by: rowdy on Sun, 19 January 2014, 04:03:49
This section (http://geekhack.org/index.php?board=152.0) also has lots of information about painting cases.
Title: Re: What about painting plastic keyboard cases ?
Post by: kilogeek on Sun, 19 January 2014, 04:10:53
Nice sub-forum !

Think I found what I was looking for : the crucial point in this type of painting is the clear layer quality. Google will help me find the best products in my area.
(army-green matte would look nice on my Bull keyboard^^)